At almost every agricultural meeting lately the question as, to the honesty of the late Game Preserving Bill crops up in those meetings which most luxuriate in the rich presence of the landlords, like weeds which force themselves up in the richest soils, At the Wareham and Purbeck Labourers' Friend Society, presided over by Mr. H. K. Seymer, Esq.Mr. J. A. DAMEN observed that their excellent chairman had alluded just now to what had passed in the last session of Parliament. He had not a very long list, but he might have made it a little longer. He did not make any mention of the new Game Act (Hear, hear). He did not know whether the hon. member had purposely avoided any allusion to it on account of its unpopularity, but he did not think that such could be the case, seeing that he did not appear to have had much hand in carrying it through the House of Commons. He might observe that the general feeling of the ratepayers was that if noble lords and hon. gentlemen chose to have their battue shooting-if they chose to keep up an immense stock of game, and thereby enable the poacher to earn his 15s. or £1 a night-the last thing they should do was to call in a policeman to catch the offender. The policeman was a public servant, paid out of the public money, and therefore a pretty general feeling prevailed that he ought to have nothing to do with the detection of poachers or the preservation of game (applause).

The CHAIRMAN said that as the subject had been alluded to, he felt bound to say one or two words. Mr. Damen was quite correct in stating that he (Mr. Seymer) took no part in the passing of the new Game Bill; indeed, he thought that the measure was not fully and fairly considered, and that more time ought to have been given for an investigation of the whole question (Hear, hear). The case he believed to be this: There were certain districts in the North of England where large bodies of men were banded together in open defiance of the law, and, not content with poaching, resorted, through it, to other and more serious offences. They did not suffer much from these things in the south and west of England, but it was otherwise in the northern counties. Many gentlemen, therefore, impressed with this state of things, and Knowing that it was impossible for the police to act, thought it desirable to attempt an alteration of the law. How far it was desirable to employ the police it was not for him then to say, inasmuch as the whole question would probably be reopened in the ensuing session of Parliament. But it did appear to him to be a very dangerous thing for the public tranquility to allow any body of men, whatever their pursuits, to continue in open and actual violation of the law. As to sympathy with the poacher, they could have none. There was a time when a sort of sentimental view was taken of the poacher when he was regarded as a noble Englishman, inspired by an irresistible love of sport to go out on a "shiny night" to shoot pheasants. Such was the poacher of poetry. The poacher of real life was generally a lazy, skulking fellow, fonder of beer than he was of work, and one who did not scruple if he saw a keeper at a disadvantage, to maim, and sometimes even to murder him. They could not, therefore, have any sympathy with the poacher. The only question was whether the state of affairs in the North of England was such as to require an alteration of the law? That the matter required the strictest investigation he fully believed. A "popular" proposal was that game should be made property, but notwithstanding that this sounded all very well, he believed that it would lead to the very thing of which the ratepayers were afraid. At present, he did not see that a single policeman was required to be taken from his duties, because he was almost entirely on the highway. Neither did he imagine that the existing law was likely to interfere with the efficiency of the police force generally. But if game were made property, let them see what would happen. Other property, when stolen, was missed, and could be identified when found, but not so with game. Let them suppose a man going into wood, containing 300 or 400 hares or pheasants, that property could neither be missed nor identified. And what

QUESTION.

next? Why it must be watched; and if being property, it was liable to be watched, then it might possibly become the duty of the police to watch it. Let them consider where they would be then. The watching of this species of property would become a serious matter, because their hen roosts and plate would doubtless suffer, and therefore the "popular" nggestion to make game property ought to be well considered before being adopted. The question undoubtedly required thorough investigation, and that investigation he believed it would receive in the ensuing Session of Parliament. With regard to game generally, he had always maintained, and always should maintain, that as affecting agriculture it was entirely a question between landlord and tenant; and if be were a tenant farmer, he would take care to have the clearest understanding on the subject. The excessive preservation of hares and rabbits was, no doubt, exceedingly injurious; but then it was the duty of the farmer, before entering upon a farm, to have a clear understanding respecting them. It was useless to expect the law to step in and dictate to a landlord upon what terms he should let his land, because it would be an undue interference with the rights of property, and might lead the landlord to determine not to let his land at all. He repeated therefore that the question of game must be left to a mutual understanding between landlord and tenant.

Mr. PANTON (vice-chairman) said he had never attended a meeting of so genial a matter, or where the topics had taken such an agreeable range. A more upright and enlightened gentleman could not be found than their chairman, who abstained from voting on a question which he knew to be obnoxious to the yeomanry (applause). He (Mr. Panton) be lieved the game question was one of the greatest import to the country at large, and more especially to the tenant-farmere. Mr. Seymer had referred to the probability of game being made property, but he could not see how it could be so made, seeing that it could not always be kept at home. Thus, if hares and pheasants strayed on to another man's land, would not he become a receiver, as it were, of stolen goods? It wat very creditable to Mr. Damen to get up and state the griev ance. A few years ago it would have been impolitic so to do. In

conclusion, he alluded to farming as one of the first things a colony turned itself to, and gave "The Tenant-farmers of Dorset," with the name of Mr. Damen (cheers).

Mr. DAMEN, in reply, said his voice would always be raised against making game private property, as it would be impos sible to identify it as such. If the question was pushed one step farther it would lead to the entire abandonment of the game laws; and rather than make game property, he would with the Bright and Cobden party go the whole hog, and en deavour to repeal the laws affecting game, making it like blackbirds, and its pursuit subject only to the law of trespass.

THE TWO SOURCES OF AGRICULTURAL PROSPERITY.-At the annual meeting of the Royal Islay Agricul tural Society, Lord Overstone, who proposed the health of the labourers and ploughmen, remarked that there were two sources in the combination of which they must seek the pros perity of agriculture. One was the fertility of the soil, which was the beneficent gift of Providence; but Providence never gave her blessings to man but she accompanied them with conditions severe in their first estimate, but full of blessings in their realisation. The absolute condition was, that fertility should be a curse and not a blessing unless man earned the blessing by the sustained, continued, and uninterrupted appli cation of his industry. It was the fertility of the soil and the labour of man that were necessary for our comfort and wealth. He could not refrain from observing that it was peculiarly gratifying to him to meet those connected with the cultivation of the land round that place, on that which might be properly characterised as the anniversary of the results of the year. There was something peculiarly suggestive in the time selected for bringing them together. They were now arrived at the close of a remarkable year. They looked back to the results

At the Meeting of the Cannock Agricultural Society, the Chairman, Mr. R. C. CHAWNER, said-He found in his own career that he did not sufficiently consider, when he entered on the occupation of land, what were the qualifications and what were the conditions under which he ought to undertake the responsibility. These qualifications had increased since he began farming, some thirty-two years ago, because it was now necessary that a man should receive a sound commercial education. No man would like to find that in this respect he was inferior to his own labourers; but yet he might possibly do so, unless he seriously addressed himself to that requirement in the first instance. When he said commercial education, he did not mean a classical and scientific education. He acknowledged with gratitude the benefits farmers had derived from chemistry, geology, and other kindred sciences; but he would never advise any man who wished to get his bread by the cultivation of the soil to become a mere dabbler in science. There were men who had devoted their time to the investigation and pursuit of those separate sciences, and who were always willing to give the result of their labours to those who applied for it; and he would therefore advise those young inen who were anxious to obtain a knowledge of the composition of the soil, or the nature and properties of grasses, &c., to apply to those gentlemen, who were really the only persons who could give them sound information on the subject. To a man educated as he had described, the first question to suggest itself would be "What shall I occupy ?" And in answering that, it would be necessary to consider what capital he had. On that point he wished to correct a great misapprehension as to the amount necessary. It had been said very commonly that a man should have £10 per acre. He knew one of the best authorities on this subject, Mr. Pusey, a large landholder and a practical farmer, a gentleman who for some time conducted the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society-and he said that he never could get that amount of capital into the land, and considering the question from his own point of view as a tenant farmer, he thought £6, or at most £8, amply sufficient for an ordinary farm. He, how ever, made a great distinction between the capital which should be employed by the landlord and the tenant. If they were going to take a farm and build upon it, drain it, grub up the fences, and make a different arrangement of the whole farm, then he could not tell them what amount they would require. But if they were going to expend their money fairly as a tenant, they would want to furnish their houses, to provide a sufficiency of stock, horses, and implements, be able to pay their rent and taxes, and have such a capital as would not drive them into the market immediately after harvest at a great sacrifice. They should be able to go into the market to buy stock when they wanted it, and when it was within their reach at a fair price. That was the proper use of the tenant's capital, and he believed with Mr. Pusey on that subject that from £6 to £8 per acre would enable them to do so, and at the same time do justice to themselves and to their landlords. When they knew what capital they possessed, they might readily calculate the acreage they could manage. There was another point on entering upon a farm, which was not much considered-the locality; whether there were good roads and easy access to market, so that they might readily take their produce, and bring back manure. That was a point which should be remembered in considering the great question of reut. He also thought the tenant farmer who had ample capital had as much right to consider who was to be his landlord as the latter had to enquire as to the character and capital of the tenant. The tenant should also consider what would be his position under such and such a landlord, ere he entered upon a farm, and gave up his time, skill, and capital, having, at the same time, to bear the responsibilities which attached to him as the father of a family. The next point was-How should he hold his land? Should it be by lease, by written agreement, or by annual tenancy without an agreement?

He preferred to hold it by lease. If a man had a lease for twenty-one years, he could lay out his capital freely and look for a yield hereafter to reproduce his capital and pay interest. He was not at all alarmed at talking on this subject, though he had been told that he came once a year to preach sedition to the Cannock farmers. The subject had, however, been alluded to at recent meetings by the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Lichfield; and he would assert that in what he was advancing, so far from wishing to create an ill feeling, he was taking the only course which would cement a good feeling between the tenant and landlord. He believed if the subject were freely discussed it would give rise to a better understanding between both parties; the landlord would feel secure that his property would be improved, and would arrive at the conviction that if a tenant laid out his capital lavishly, he ought to be assured that he would in the end be fairly remunerated if not repaid. Supposing the agreement to be an annual onefor he had been told by landlords that tenants were averse to leases in Staffordshire-he would press upon them to have the terms in writing. He knew it could be done very readily, and that the conditions could be put in a single sheet of foolscap. Without entering into the question of the prize offered by Lord Lichfield for the best form of agreement-for which he intended to compete-he would tell them one clause that they should have in all their agreements. Whatever clauses they might have in regard to general cultivation, selling-off straw, &c., they should have a general clause that in the last halfyear of the occupation a valuer should be appointed who should consider the questions of unexhausted improvements and dilapidation, and if there were any difference strike a balance between them. If they had such a clause in their agreements they might do their duty by the land, to themselves, and their landlords. He would not attempt to offer any remarks as to how they should farm, for there was so much difference in the nature of the land and climate, that a man must consider and judge for himself. He, however, would say, as a general rule, that any man who thought he could come upon laud and poach that land, taking out the previous tenant's capital, was not a good farmer, and was not a good man. They should withhold their sympathy from such a man, and reserve it for the men who had done their duty, and who in thousands of cases were turned out of their occupations. The position which the tenant farmers hold ought to be strengthened. They ought to feel not only in a secure position by the possession of an agreement, but in a higher degree by the discouragement of temptation, and to support each other only when they did that which was their duty, not only to themselves and their families, but to their landlords and their country, in making the earth yield forth its fruits. As to the details of farming there were two rules-the one was, that if good crops would not pay, none else ever would; and the other was, that they made too little reference as to the mode in which they farmed, as compared with the farming of other countries with which they were in competition. They were in competition with the whole world. But what were their peculiar advantages and disadvantages? In this country they could not produce a bulk of corn so fine as other countries. The English climate was a moist climate, and was well understood by the word "drip." The drip was ever coming on the land, and though it was good for grass and for root crops, it was not good for corn. That fact appeared to point out to them what ought to be their foundation of farming. Stock farming must be the foundation of agriculture in this country. If they looked at the imports of corn and stock they would find that, whilst England could scarcely compete with other countries in the production of coru, no other country could compete with Eng land in the production of what they familiarly called butchers' meat; and when they added seeds they had the real foundation of farming within itself. They all knew that corn must follow in its place.

Leaving the beautiful cultivation at Woolston with some reluctance, I made my way through the village of Willen. The farming by the roadside is good, but a plentiful supply of thistles is observable, and the stubbles are greener with couch than those I had left behind. This place is famous as the residence of the late Dr. Busby, and boasts a church built from the design of Sir Christopher Wren, though I doubt whether anything but the upper part of the tower is now as he first planned it. From thence I made for Newport Pagnel, on the lazy Ouse, which twists and doubles like a water-snake amongst the rich meadows that surround the town. Before entering Newport, I made a détour to the left, to witness the steam tackle in operation upon a small off farm in the occupation of Mr. Whiting, of Stoke. The land may be characterised as a good adhesive loam, capable of being ploughed with three horses. The rent is 63s. per acre. There are sixty acres of arable, and twenty of grass. The farm only came into the possession of the present Occupant two years since, when it was in a fearfully foul conditition: "stubbles were mistaken for grass closes," and much more to that effect. If it was more replete with thistles than the land around, I can quite believe it was bad enough. Thanks to the steam engine and Mr. Smith's tackle, it is now reclaimed from this degraded state, wears a comparatively clean face, and has put-off its Caledonian garment. Let me add that this surprising change has been effected at less expense than those around have been put to, to maintain their weeds. Comparisons may be odious, but they are sometimes strikingly illustrative. In this case, a stride across the hedge will place us in possession of facts from which useful conclusions may be drawn as to the value of steam culture. We will make a long leg for that purpose, after having glanced at the process which Mr. Whiting's bean stubble is undergoing. There were seven acres, within three hours, at the time of my visit, of being cultivated twice with the five-tined implement, seven inches deep-fourteen acres in fifteen hours, The plot lay in a state which gives inexpressible pleasure to any observer who has spent some years of his life in waging an unsuccessful battle with weeds. The stratum was thoroughly comminuted; the couch lay in its longitudinal integrity upon the surface, accompanied with the great naked tenacious tap-roots of the thistles and docks which, unearthed, were tossed lightly upon the top-an easy prey to the solar ray. A shovel showed me a uniform bottom, and allowed me to look into the rent and fissured subsoil below. A Butlin's 8-horse single-cylinder engine was stationed beside the canal. I advanced towards it to see the power being consumed by the cultivator and rope. The steam was blowing-off during an indicated pressure of 40 lbs. The implement, it will be observed, was taking four feet, and running at the rate of three and a-half miles an hour. The engineer was obliging enough to show the absolute power required to maintain the cultivation at the same speed and depth; and, with little more than 20 lbs. pressure, he could yet blow-off steam! The rope, at that juncture, enclosed about three acres. The slack was well sustained by low porters twenty five yards apart; while, along the line of work, Howaris' Farmingham porters, managed by two boys, carried it admirably. Nothing could be more simple or efficient than the mode of working, and the work done.

Now, then, for the next farm, which had also a new tenant two years ago, as resolutely bent upon having a clean farm by means of horse-tillage, as his neighbour was with steam. The scene of work was a bean stubble, which spoke a rather poor crop, and the area was just seven acres. There were ten fine horses at work upon it: two harrowing the piece, and eight crossing the harrowed surface with a Coleman and a Bentall behind them. The Coleman took three feet, just grazed-off the thistles and couch foliage in the furrows, and made an incision of two inches in the ridge. A man rode upon it, while the four horses, who seemed to have a collar full, were driven by one man and a boy. The Ben

tall made a cut on the ridge two feet wide and four inches deep, but thinned out, on the land side, to an inch, defoliating the weeds most adroitly by the assistance of four stout horses, two men, and a boy. "We be only running over the top, sir, and are going to plough it afterwards," said one of the men to me with a patronizing and assuring look, as he saw my amazed phiz. How much can you do 3-day?" said I. "We two began on't in the morning, and shall finish by night." "About three and a-half acres each?" I remarked. Aye, aye," said he, "thereabouts." The speed of the horses was about one mile and a-half an hour. Endeavouring to obtain a closer acquaintance with the field, I went where the harrow had not worked, and was astonished to find the surface slightly grooved, most of the bean stubbs cast down, some of the thistles and docks decapitated, but more remaining victors in some first encounter. "Holloa!" cried I; "what has been done here?" "Oh," replied my former respondent, "the bit was Bentalled afore the harrow." "How many horses?" Three." Thus, then, the weeds were pared-off even with the surface, and the stubbs were dislodged the first time; then came the harrow to gather the rubbish into heaps for burning; after that, followed the Bentall and Coleman, cutting about two inches more off the bleeding weeds; and some other operation, equally efficient, was to follow. It will be best to show the cost of the proceeding in figures. The first scarifying, with three horses, on the seven acres, would be 25s.; the harrowing, 7s.; the paring, with four horses, 30s. I will burden the calculation with nothing for picking or harrowing, and only take note of the ploughing (70s.), which will secure to the future plant but a troublous existence, and to the diligent hoer a spring and summer's work. The total is 132s., with nothing for wear and tear. Now for the counter expenses in the steam-tilled bean stubble: For manual labour of twice cultivating the seven acres to a depth of seven inches, and completely cleansing and pulverizing it, 26s. 6d. ; for coals (8 cwt.), 6s.; for oil, Is. 6d. ; for wear and tear, 21s.; total cost, 55s. 18s. and 10d., against 7s. 10d.; such is the comparison in cost: the comparison of intrinsic worth must be left to imagination, or the harvest-test of next year.

The state of Mr. Whiting's tackle is very good. It must have been carefully used. Implements Nos. 3 and 4 are as good as new. The engine belongs to Mr. Smith, and has cost nothing for repairs during the four years he has had it. The windlass is one of the best we have seen sent out on the Woolston model. One drum has been replaced by another, in consequence of a broken flange. The frame is cranked, so that the two drums revolve within a few inches of the ground. It was working very noiselessly. I could not get exact particulars respecting the rope, but was assured that the rope which I saw running with strands that gave but little evidence of wear, and none of strain, had been in nearly constant use since September, 1861.

The stubbles all looked very clean, considering their conbition three years since. I crossed a clover ley, which had deen torn up and crossed in three operations by Nos. 3 and. 4. It lay in a fine state, with the weeds thoroughly uprooted Another clover lea lay intact. The cultivator was to begin upon it so soon as the bean plot should be finished. This piece had only been once steamed during the occupancy of Mr. Whiting, and showed that No. 3 was not to obtain a victory over thistles and docks by one blow. A shepherd who saw me examining the surface, very appropriately remarked, Aye, aye, sir, the steamer's coming to kill them this afterA bit of beans was close by; the crop was being carried; that the steam tooth had never fastened into, and the thistles luxuriated as they were wont to do over the rest of thefarm prior to the present occupier's persecuting reign.

noon!"

From this farm I made my way to another in the same tenancy, on the hill above Stoke Goldington. The road lies through Newport, whose great inns carry one back to old times. Fancy peoples the pavement with strangely-muffled figures,

L L

stretching their legs, and stamping up and down amid the clatter of ostlers. The town wears a rather obese sleepy look, and is famous for nothing save a somewhat pretty situation. The road beyond passes some substantial seats, and commands a fine tract of land, farmed in a sloveuly manner. The pervading thistle seemed to govern the country. His winged messengers floated upon every breeze. Road cuttings here and there display the underlying limestone rock, which crops out beneath the stiff yellow clay farmed by Mr. Whiting. His farm consists of 110 acres of arable and 50 of grass land, occupying the sides and summit of a hill range, the incline each way being steep. The rent here is £1 10s. an acre: the clay is very poor, and expensive to manage. The present tenant entered upon it in 1857. He borrowed Mr. Smith's tackle to strike his first blow at the weeds which theu infested the whole farm, and in 1858 bought a set for himself. The drainer's tool tapped the springs at the same time that the cultivator tine split up the hoof-formed pavement. The landlord, too, Lord Carrington-it is a pleasure to name him-afforded his progressive tenant every facility. The broad hedgerows, full of timber, were cleared away, and crooked fences were straightened. The result is that a farm from which horse-tillers shrunk has now come to vie in cleanliness and productiveness with the best lands of more favoured districts. The thistle and dock, although retained in the surrounding farms, are nearly eradicated here; the character of the soil is completely changed, so much so that turnip culture and sheep husbandry can now be adopted with advantage. On my way up the hill, I came to a surprisingly good crop of white turnips for such land, and then to a strong bit of Rivett wheat in stook, upon such an incline as must have made the course of the cultivator difficult; the stubble very strong and clean. Anon I came to a clover ley, which told of a sharp encounter. The enemy which had slain the docks, thistles, and couch retreated some months since, and yet scarcely a sign of life remained abroad. From this breezy height a splendid view is obtained of the surrounding country; the woods and meadows, and the winding Ouse, with Ravensham and Olney in the distance, backed by the further range of sand hills. Another clover ley had been ripped up in great blocks, and subsequently reduced with clod crusher, and the weeds seemed to be all vanquished. Further along the ridge I struck upon a splendid crop of mangolds and turnips which fairly amazed me. I walked to right and left, to see whether I could perceive anything analogous to it upon the farms of neighbours. I crossed several foul stubbles, but could find nothing to serve as a comparison, unless a thin second-sown crop belonging to Mr. Checkley would do. The treatment I may state. In autumn it was ploughed, and in the spring three tines, each with four horses. It was scuffled three times, in places four times, ridged and manured with twenty-five loads of manure; and to say nothing concerning the crop, which is an accidental failure, after all this expense it is far from clean. The thistles checked, not subdued, may be seen perking up, all over the field. Mr. Whiting's land was broken up with No. 3 once in autumn, ridged with horses; twice treated with No. 4 in the spring, ridged, dressed with 10 tons of manure, and drilled with compost. Mr. Checkley's roots might have been as good as Mr. Whiting's, and yet the balance would have been in favour of steam. Finally I was taken with some visible pride to the very worst bit of land on the farm, which, strange to say, had, under the magic wand of steam, been made to produce the very best crop of wheat. Lord Carrington's keeper any time these thirty years has known where to go for his leveret; he "could always see to the length of his range through any crop that land ever produced." Of late years, however, Sir B. Leighton's brownskins have disported themselves amid the luxuriant foliage and reedy straw with comparative safety. The field is changed; it is, in fact, but a typical illustration of the whole farm, for that is changed too. Once it had a character for sterility: now it possesses one for productiveness. Steam has been here essential. I entertain no idea that the same result could have been produced by the employment of horses, in any imaginary number. Upon some description of land horse tillage may, though at greater cost, vie with steam culture; but on such land as this, which is very similar to the cold clay land farmed by Mr. Pike, and the 40 acres described uuder Mr. Smith's tuition, under no circumstances could it do

80.

The farmers around are not blockheads, they marshal and direct their horse power with as much prudence and energy as

it is capable of; they are not in love with thistles and docks ; they are not wanting in appreciation of a turnip crop, or an extra quarter or two of wheat and beans; but the fact is that with all their plodding, persistence, and dead fallowing, the land is full of weeds, and the crops which spring up and wave in the breeze behind the steam cultivator will not grace their fields. Mr. Whiting is not alone in this neighbourhood. I saw from the hill an engine sending up its smoke into the trees of Hanslope, and found that Mr. Thomson was at work there. In the parish of Loughton there are three farms so cultivated. In his own country Mr. Smith has, I believe, distributed thirteen sets of tackle; these are all in the hands of tenant-farmers of moderate means, and more or less are employed upon neighbouring farms. With such facts before him, who shall have the assurance to say that steam is not yet available for the cultivation of the land?

Having given some details of what is being done in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, I now invite attention to Huntingdonshire. Notwithstanding the insult passed upon this county by the editor of the Royal Agricultural Society's Jour nal, I find it par excellence the county in which the greatest enterprise has been displayed in the cause of steam culture. I have before me a list of some twenty tenant-farmers who have been engaged one year and upwards in applying steam as a substitute for horses. So far as I know, no other county can boast of the same advancement; and certainly, had the chairman of the Journal Committee obtained as much information as I have done on this subject, he would not have committed himself to the absurd statement at the York meeting, previously referred to, concerning the present nonadaptability of steam to the purposes of soil cultivation: no announcement could be wider of the mark. The best method, however, of combating erroneous asseveration is, to place actual fact in juxtaposition with it, without much comment, and leave the reader to form his own conclusion. I will, therefore, continue my narrative. On Wednesday week, at the close of the sitting of the British Association at Cambridge, I took a railway ticket for St. Ives. From thence I made my way to the farm of Mr. Thomas Inskip, at Fenny Staunton. This gettleman occupies 700 acres of land. The fields are large, the hedgerows are unencumbered with timber. For the most part the soil is heavy, and, geologically classed, consists of clays of the Oxford and Kimmeridge series. At the foot of the undulation on which the farm is chiefly situated, there is a little turnip land, requiring but two horses to plough it, while the rest requires three or four. Of these 700 acres, 600 are arable, three-fourths being very heavy, and the remainder a red loam mixed with gravel.

Rather late in the autumn of 1860, Smith's apparatus, manufactured by the Howards, arrived from Bedford. It consisted of an eight-horse power double cylinder engine, cultivators Nos. 3 and 4, 1,400 yards of steel rope, the windlass which was then used, together with the usual supply of ropeporters, anchors and snatch-block. It was immediately ret to work to smash up the bean stubbles, and get the land desigued for barley and roots into a forward state of cultivation. The wear and tear in rope-porters and snatch-blocks is stated to have been considerable the first year. The first rope, in fact, was too slight, it weighed but 10 cwt. Another 1,400 yards were obtained, of a heavier weight, for the next campaign, and there are now upon the drums 1,600 yards in good working order. Mr. Inskip thinks that his expenses for repairs and replacement of porters and snatch-blocks must be placed at £10 yearly.

The work done has been very severe, and in great quantity. Leaving out of the question all that was done by way of preparation for the crops just harvested, I will give but a specimen, commencing with the breaking up of the clover leys, an operation which on this clay soil cannot be performed five inches deep with less than four good horses. At midsummer 100 acres of clover ley were broken up with No. 3, six inches deep, and crossed with No. 4. No sooner was the wheat cut than the steam-engine was at work again; first upon the bean stubbles, 40 acres of which were ripped up and crossed, and then upon 57 acres of wheat stubble. A considerable portion of the land so disrupted I saw. It appeared thoroughly well done, nor can I imagine two operations by means of horse power to have produced any equal effect. No. 8 was at work on 16 acres of wheat stubble, anticipative of mangolds After the rain of the previous days the land was almost too